Yesterday a few ladies from my quilt guild went to the Birmingham Sewing & Quilt Expo. It was a small event but I really enjoyed looking at all the gadgets that you normally only get to see online... and I got to sit on that gypsy quilter purple sit upon thing. It was very interesting... still not sure if I like it but I can see how it would make sitting for a long period of time much much more comfortable...

Anyhoooo...I really went to look at sit down quilting machines. I already had a frame set up and it is a space hog. I don't want a machine on a frame. I like to sit down when I quilt and the floor space the frame takes up is something I don't want to part with...

I tried out the Janome Horizon at a nearby dealer already and I'm sad to say that as much as I really wanted to like it, I wasn't just blown away by it. I have a Janome sewing machine and I like it a lot but I just didn't get awestruck with the Horizon.. so that is probably not the machine for me.

At the show I got to try out the Juki 2000. That does stitch really, really nice but I hated the foot pedal with the thread cutter built in there. I kept cutting my threads instead of sewing. That was annoying. The woman said that a lot of people turn the foot pedal sideways because of that. I didn't really like how that felt on my foot. It sewed really nicely but I am not 100% sure that I will like the 9" throat. I don't know if that would be enough to comfortably work on a queen or king sized quilt.

The Tin Lizzie dealer did not have the sit down model to show off. That's a stinker to say the least. I really really wanted to compare it side by side to the HQ Sweet 16 machine.... which I did get to try out and man, it is a sweet machine :D I really liked it a lot but was put off by the dealer. I had to get the show special pricing that day because it was the last day of the show and it would not be available even a day later which means if I want to get the savings I will have to trek out to Georgia next month for the next quilt and sewing expo. I liked the machine but didn't like feeling pressured.

The local Janome dealer also sells Lizzies but she won't have the sit down model in the Huntsville store. She is getting one in at the Scottsboro store in the next few weeks... I will take a road trip once she gets it on the floor. It will be a nice trek out there. I do like going to the Unclaimed Baggage store and a few other thrift stores in town there so it won't be a one thing only trip :)

Next weekend I am going to trek out to Waverly, TN to look at the Pennywinkle Sunshine 16 machine. It's $2000 cheaper than the HQ. I'm curious to see what $2000 buys you. I've read that some people have had the screen on their HQ go bad and that's not a good thing at all. I could not imagine that happening a

Oh decisions, decisions!! I wish I could have tried all the machines out but that was just not an option. :'(